Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527

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Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Tribological behavior of the bronze–steel pair for worm gearing

V. Fontanari a,n, M. Benedetti a, G. Straffelini a, Ch. Girardi b, L. Giordanino b
a
University of Trento, Department of Industrial Engineering, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy
b
Sicor S.p.A., via Caproni 15, 38068 Rovereto, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The wear damage mechanisms occurring in the tribological pair bronze (CuSn12)-quenched and
Received 14 September 2012 tempered steel (42CrMo4V) frequently used as reference materials for worm gearing power transmis-
Received in revised form sions were investigated. Lubricated rolling sliding tests in the disk-on-disk configuration were
16 January 2013
performed. Different radial loads were applied in order to reach in the contact region Hertzian
Accepted 21 January 2013
pressures close to the allowable design limit for bronze. The relative sliding speed was set to a level
Available online 29 January 2013
typical of screw-worm wheel transmissions. The tests were conducted up to a sliding distance of about
Keywords: 1800 km and periodically interrupted for measuring the specimen’s weight loss and for inspecting the
Rolling-sliding wear surface modifications. At the end of the test, the wear curves (specific weight loss vs. sliding distance)
Worm gearing
were built up and the surface damage was analyzed by means of optical and scanning electron
Bronze
microscopy. Different damage phenomena as scoring, pitting, spalling were identified, whose severity
Tempered steel
depends on the applied load. Microstructural features, i.e. the interdendritic phase, strongly dictate the
subsurface crack path and crack branching.
& 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Worm gearing is one of the most common solutions for the
transmission of rotary motion between skew axis, enabling high
transmission ratios in very compact constructions. The meshing
between the wheels helical teeth and the worm screws profiles
produces prevailing sliding contact conditions. For this reason,
friction plays a very important role in influencing the efficiency of
the power transmission and the wear damage of the teeth.
Contact conditions critically depend on several factors: lubrica-
tion, materials, precision in the gears manufacturing and assem-
bly, surface finishing [1–5]. The lubrication is much more critical
than in other types of gears, which work under prevailing rolling
conditions during the main part of the teeth arc of contact.
Conversely in worm gears, a very thin lubricant film is formed
between meshing teeth, due to the unfavorable conditions for
hydrodynamic lubrication [6]. Moreover, the noticeable relative
sliding between the teeth is responsible for the rather poor
mechanical and thermal efficiency if compared to other types of
gears [5,6]. Under these working conditions, the teeth flanks can
be seen as a tribological system undergoing wear damage in
mixed lubrication regime. The most frequent wear mechanisms
encountered in service are (a) surface fatigue (pitting), (b) scoring
due to localized cold welding and abrasion producing grooves
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ390461282430; fax: þ 390461281977.
E-mail address: vigilio.fontanari@unitn.it (V. Fontanari).
aligned with the sliding direction, (c) scuffing, i.e. a serious
surface deterioration due to the breakage of the lubricant film
determining metal to metal welding with extensive material
transfer from one surface to the other, (d) three body abrasive
wear may be observed in the running-in phase and later in the
case of lubrication with unfiltered oil, while (e) spalling can occur
as a consequence of repeated overloads producing, in the front
area of the contact region, shear stresses higher than the materi-
als yield shear strength. Usually, there is not a predominant
damage phenomenon, but several mechanisms acting in a syner-
gistic way [5–11].
As regards the materials selection, the historically most
common and widespread solution for power transmission is
based on the coupling between a bronze crown and a hardened
steel helical screw; this coupling is characterized by a low
coefficient of friction (between 0.05 and 0.10 for the most
common sliding speed regimes) [12,13], by the particular resis-
tance to ‘scuffing’ thanks to a very low metallic compatibility.
Moreover, the use of a sacrificial material (bronze) can prevent
the problems related to improper surface finishing and accuracy
in the teeth execution as well as in the gears assembly [2,3].
However, due to the rather poor materials properties, the allow-
able contact pressure and hence the load carrying capacity of the
transmission are severely limited [5,6].
For these applications, in view of the substantial increase in
the copper cost and, on the other hand, in the noticeable
improvements of the manufacturing techniques, allowing for
greater dimensional accuracy and better surface finish, there is

0043-1648/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2013.01.058
 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527 1521

a growing effort to replace the bronze with cheaper and better control the final microstructure because of the prolonged solidifi-
performing materials. In the technical literature, some examples cation interval.
of alternative materials pairs, including steel and cast iron, are The tensile properties of the steel, listed in Table 1, were taken
reported [14–16]. Unfortunately, the available information is from the suppliers technical data sheet, whereas the tensile
fragmentary and difficult to be translated into the design practice.
The present work is a preliminary investigation of a research
project aimed at exploring the possibility of using materials and/
or coatings alternative to bronze for worm gearing. The attention
is firstly focused on the characterization of the reference tribo-
pair, i.e. bronze (CuSn12)—quenched and tempered steel
(42CrMo4V). For this purpose, disk on disk ‘rolling-sliding’ tests
were performed with lubricant maintained at a temperature
typical of an ‘in service’ heavy working condition. During the
tests, the weight loss of the bronze disk was periodically mea-
sured and the surface modification due to the damage evolution
documented. At the end of test, micrographic characterization
with optical and scanning electron microscopes was performed.
The collected information made it possible to build up the wear
curves in terms of weight loss vs. sliding distance and to identify
the damage phenomena as a function of the applied load, in order
to create a data base to set a reference for the characterization of
alternative tribological pairs.

2. Materials Fig. 1. Microstructure of the 42CrMo4V steel.

The nominal composition of the two materials is shown in

Tables 1 and 2. The specimens were machined from a semi-
finished product taken from a production batch: the CuSn12 is
produced by centrifugal casting, while the 42CrMo4V is a conven-
tional quenched and tempered steel. The microstructure of both
materials is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. The 42CrMo4V
steel shows a typical quenched and tempered martensite (sorbite)
microstructure. The microstructure of the CuSn12 alloy is segre-
gated, wherein dendrites are copper-rich in the center and the
interdendritic solidification phase is rich in Sn and Pb. This
eutectoid constituent is made up of two phases, the alpha phase,
a copper rich solid solution of tin in copper and the delta
intermetallic compound of fixed composition Cu31Sn8. This com-
pound, characterized by a jagged shape in Fig. 2, is hard and brittle.
The microhardness values of the copper rich matrix and of the
interdendritic constituent are listed in Table 2. The average grain
size is nearly 120 mm and complies with the standard specifica-
tions [12]. The eutectoid constituent is undesired since it weakens
the mechanical properties [17,18]. Unfortunately, this constituent
possesses a very low melting point, thus making very difficult to Fig. 2. Microstructure of the CuSn12 alloy.

Table 1
Nominal composition and static tensile properties of the 42CrMo4V steel.

42CrMo4V C Si Mn Mn Cr. Mo. S al.

0.42 0.25 0.75 0.75 1.1 0.22 o0.035 Pb

Young’s modulus (GPa) Poisson’s ratio Yield strength (MPa) Ultimate tensile strenght (MPa) Fracture strain (%)
205 0.3 710 920 11

Table 2
Nominal composition and static tensile properties of the CuSn12 Alloy.

CuSn12 Cu Ni Pb Sn Zn P Al Fe Mn al.
87.5 0.5 0.15 11.5 0.1 0.05 0.005 0.05 0.05 0.05

Microhardness (HV0.1) Copper rich matrix 125 (7 15) Alphaþ delta phase 320 (727)

Young modulus (GPa) Poisson ratio Yield strength (MPa) Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) Elongation (%)

105.00 7 1.65 0.3287 0.006 209 7 2 257 710 1.31 70.4

1522 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527
Fig. 3. CuSn12 true stress-true strain curves.
Fig. 4. Rendering of the Amsler A 135 wear testing machine.
properties of the CuSn12 alloy were determined by carrying out
four tensile tests on specimens machined from the semi-finished
product. The stress–strain curves are plotted in Fig. 3, while the
values of the tensile parameters are listed in Table 2. The ultimate
tensile strength is compliant with the requirement, whereas the
elongation at fracture is very small, as a consequence of the
network of the eutectoid constituent, which is strongly detri-
mental to the material ductility. The Poisson ratio was measured
with the aid of a transverse extensometer.
3. Experimental procedure
The ‘disk-on-disk’ rolling sliding tests were carried out on an
Amsler A 135 machine, which was primarily designed to perform
‘rolling contact fatigue’ tests, with limited relative sliding
between the disks (Fig. 4).
In order to increase the sliding speed up to values typical of
worm-wheel transmissions, the disks’ diameters and the speed of
one of the shafts driven by the electric motor were modified. In
the final configuration, the angular velocity ratio between the two
driven shafts was 1/5, while the bronze and the steel specimens
were made with outer diameter equal to 26 mm and 54 mm,
respectively. The specimen thickness was set equal to 8 mm.
The specimens were polished with grinding papers up to 1200
grit, resulting in a surface finish with an average roughness Ra of
about 0.8 mm. Dip lubrication was obtained by positioning an oil
tank beneath the lower shaft driving the bronze specimen. During
Fig. 5. Schematic drawing of the testing configuration.
the test, the lubricant was maintained at a temperature of
8072 1C, by means of a thermostatic bath. This temperature
requirement is particularly severe for the lubricant and was
intentionally adopted to reproduce heavy working conditions
that can be encountered in-service in some critical applications.
A schematic representation of the test is shown in Fig. 5.
Notably, the direction of specimens’ rotation produces con-
cordant peripheral velocity in the contact region. This condition
reproduces the operational conditions and makes sure that both
wheels drain the oil into the meatus.
On the basis of the wheels’ peripheral speeds indicated in
Fig. 5, the average speed U (rolling velocity), the relative speed DU
(sliding velocity) and the sliding-rolling ratio S (S ¼0 pure rolling,
S¼1 pure sliding) are defined as follows [8–10]:
_ v1 þv2
U¼ ¼ 2:26 m=s
2
DU ¼ v1 v2 ¼ 3:74 m=s
DU
S¼ _ ¼ 0:828
2U
The lubricant used for the test is a synthetic polyglycolic oil
commonly used for worm gearing containing anti-scuffing addi-
tives. Table 3 summarizes the information taken from the data
sheet.
 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527 1523

The testing machine allows the direct measurement of the the weight loss and to inspect the surface damage. This operation
resistant torque due to friction, thus enabling a rough estimate of was periodically repeated until the end of the test. In this way, a
the evolution of the coefficient of friction during the test. wear curve is determined by correlating the specific weight loss
The radial loads applied to the disks were set following with the sliding distance.
standard recommendations [12,13], specific for the design At the end of the test, the specimens were sectioned and
worm-wheel gear pairs. In particular, these guidelines suggest polished for metallographic observation and for the analysis with
reference values for the allowable limit Hertzian pressure to avoid the scanning electron microscope (SEM).
pitting in the bronze wheel.
On the basis of the specimen roughness, the lubricant proper-
ties and the applied load, the l factor was found to range between
0.9 and 1.2, thus suggesting the occurrence of a boundary
lubrication regime during the tests [9,10].
The tests were carried out up to a relative sliding distance
between the disk specimens of about 1800 km, comparable with
those typically observed in the practice. Three tests were carried
out at three different load levels. After a running-in stage
corresponding to a sliding distance of about 75–90 km, the test
was interrupted, the CuSn12 specimen dismounted to measure

Table 3
Physical properties of the lubricant.

Viscosity at 40 1C mm2/ Viscosity at 100 1C mm2/ Viscosity Density

s s index/ kg/m3

230 34 195 1030 Fig. 8. Evolution of the friction coefficient for the test conducted at the Hertzian
pressure of 350 MPa.

Fig. 6. Wear curves obtained using lubricant A at different loading levels.

Fig. 7. Wear rate evaluated for the three load levels at different stages of the test.
1524 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527

Fig. 9. Successive stages of surface damage: (a) 2  105 m, (b) 7  105 m, (c) 1.2  106 m, and (d) end of the test (Hertzian pressure 350 MPa).

Fig. 10. Detail of the CuSn12 specimen surface after about 100 km of relative Fig. 11. Micropitting appearance at the end of running in.
sliding (Hertzian pressure 350 MPa).

The curves show three distinct phases: the running-in stage

characterized by a noticeable weight loss and consequently a
4. Experimental results significant wear rate, the intermediate stage with relatively mild
wear, characterized by a slowly decreasing wear rate, followed by
4.1. Wear curves a final phase resulting in a progressive damage acceleration.

The average wear curves and the corresponding scatter, based
on the results of the three tests carried out at each loading level
(expressed as Hertzian pressure), are shown in Fig. 6. The weight
loss per unit of specimen thickness is plotted versus the relative
sliding distance. A rather good repeatability of results was
observed.
Fig. 7 compares the wear rates determined for each load level
at different stages of the tests and expressed in terms of the
average wear curves.
4.2. Evolution of the friction coefficient
In Fig. 8, the evolution of the friction coefficient deduced from
the torque measurement is shown for the most severe loading
condition. The three stages, as identified in the previous para-
graph, can be observed. The coefficient of friction increases in the
running-in phase, then it diminishes in the intermediate phase,
and finally displays a noticeable increment in the last part of
the test.
 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527 1525

4.3. Analysis of the surface damage highlights the micropitting phenomena occurring already during
the running-in phase (Fig. 11), probably due to the partial
Fig. 9 shows the optical microscope photographs of the worn removal of the interdendritic phase (alphaþdelta eutectoid).
surfaces taken at different fractions of the test on the bronze The morphology of the abraded surface due to scoring is shown
specimen. In this case, reference is made to the test conducted at
the highest load. The observed surface damage highlights the
phenomena of scoring/scuffing, pitting, spalling up to the crush-
ing of a surface layer to a depth of about 100 mm at the end of the
test. The rather high values of the friction coefficient confirm the
hypothesis of mixed lubrication regime during the whole test. A
noticeable specific wear rate occurs in the initial phase of the test
as a consequence of scoring phenomena, producing detectable
surface deterioration, manifested by the appearance of deep
circumferential furrows localized on two symmetric lateral bands
having a width of about 2 mm, at a distance of about 1 mm from
the specimen edge (Fig. 10). Small pits can be identified nearby
these bands, immediately thereafter. This type of damage justifies
the progressive increase in the friction coefficient shown in Fig. 8.
The damage in the initial stage presents similar characteristics
for all tests conducted at different loading conditions. In the tests
carried out at the highest load, the occurrence of pitting was
observed already after the running-in (after a sliding distance of
approximately 200 km) localized close to the areas characterized
by the deepest grooves. The number and size of the craters
increase progressively in the central part of the test. After about
1000–1200 km, the damage progresses with increasing criticality,
leading to the coalescence of pits into large craters and producing
the crushing of a surface layer and consequent material removal
on increasingly extended areas up to a depth of 100 mm.
With regard to Fig. 8 showing the evolution of the friction
coefficient during the test, it can be noted that the pits occurrence
is linked to a progressive decrease in the friction coefficient. Appar-
ently, the craters act as small lubricant tanks, that can be made
available during the disk contact thus enabling a better lubrication.
On the other hand, the local pressure applied on the lubricant
entrapped inside the craters may be responsible for their progressive
extension up to the critical conditions, when large surface areas are
removed to a depth of about 100 mm. By lowering the load level, the
onset of pitting is postponed: approximately 500 km for the inter-
mediate load and 1200 km for the case of Hertzian pressure equal to
260 MPa. The transition to the catastrophic surface damage, char-
acterized by the crushing of a superficial layer of approx. 100 mm is
not detectable for the latter testing condition.
Similar observations can be drawn from the worn surface
analysis performed with the scanning electron microscope, that Fig. 13. (a) Craters morphology at the end of the test, (b) emerging subsurface
crack, fragmented morphology of debris.

Fig. 12. Worn surface after nearly 700 km of relative sliding. Fig. 14. Appearance of the steel specimen surface after the test.
1526 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527
Fig. 15. Subsurface crack paths crack branching and microstructure crushing.
in Fig. 12. A detail of the surface at the end of the test is displayed
in Fig. 13: the extension of the craters and the very fragmented
debris morphology can be appreciated.
The steel antagonist did not show a noticeable deterioration, but
some evidences of material transfer on the surface, probably due to
some scuffing during the test, were observed, as shown in Fig. 14 by
the dark regions rich in copper revealed by the EDXS analysis.
In order to study the influence of the microstructure on the
wear damage evolution, metallographic specimens were extracted
from a diametrical section of the specimen. The pictures shown in
Fig. 15 refer to the surface layer condition at the end of the test.
The extension of the craters, the crack branching beneath the
specimen surface and the very fragmented morphology are visible.
It can be observed (Fig. 16) that the dendritic microstructure
constitutes preferential propagation paths for the sub-surface
cracks, which hence present significant ramifications. The material
undergoes a crushing process beneath the surface because of its
poor fracture toughness due to the poor ductility of the eutectoid
constituent as previously emphasized.
5. Conclusions
The evolution of the surface damage produced in the tribolo-
gical pair CuSn12–42CrMo4V was studied during disk-on-disk
Fig. 16. Preferential crack path through dendritic phases rich in Sn and Pb.
lubricated rolling sliding tests reproducing heavy working
condition. The results were presented in terms of wear curves
showing bronze specimen weight loss vs. sliding distance.
Different wear stages were identified depending on the loading
condition. Different wear mechanisms such as scoring/scuffing,
pitting and spalling have been identified, taking place at
different stages of the test and leading to a remarkable surface
damage.
Despite of the dip lubrication condition, mixed lubrication
regime is produced during the test (l factor approaching 1).
The microstructure of the CuSn12 alloy can play a very
important role in the evolution of the surface damage. In this
regard, it has to be pointed out that the specimens were machined
from semi-finished products, complying with the mechanical
strength specifications. Unfortunately, the use of the sole tensile
strength for material qualification may be misleading to account
for the wear behavior under rolling-sliding conditions. The studied
material has a very low ductility, which can be associated with a
low fracture toughness and consequently a great sensitivity to
damage from contact fatigue in the presence of severe sliding
conditions.
The collected set of results constitutes a reference base useful
to carry out a comparison with alternative solutions that involve
the use of different lubricants, new alloys and/or steel subjected
to surface treatments or coatings.
 V. Fontanari et al. / Wear 302 (2013) 1520–1527
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